


How to Break an Art Block

by DragonSaphiraReads



Series: Fluffuary 2020 [18]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: its drlamp but the twins aren't gating each other, they're just dating the other four
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22777861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads
Summary: The Creativity twins usually work well together to help keep Thomas going. But sometimes, they run into a wall that they can’t break on their own.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Dark Creativity | Remus/Deceit/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton
Series: Fluffuary 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619986
Kudos: 71





	How to Break an Art Block

**Author's Note:**

> Like listening to podfics? You can listen to this oneshot on my YT channel here https://youtu.be/z-z31lezl4c

“Argh!!!”

Patton paused when he heard the frustrated scream from within the twins’ room. They were working on concepts for video ideas, and by the sound of it things were not going well. He edged the door open quietly, poking his head in to see what was going on. 

Roman was pacing back and forth, trodding over crumpled and ripped sheets of paper and tugging at his hair. Remus was sitting across from him, chewing on his pencil and eating the pieces that chipped off. There were notebooks scattered all around, with various writing and coloring utensils on top of them. 

They didn’t notice him, continuing to argue about whatever idea they’d most recently come up with. Their voices were full of frustration and venom, snapping at each other for the slightest things. Patton knew it was only a matter of time before it devolved into a full on fight between the twins, and those took days or sometimes weeks to recover from. 

He backed away from the door, silently running down the hallway and descending the stairs to where the rest of his boyfriends were lounging in the living room. They looked up at him curiously.

“Something wrong, Patton?” Logan asked. 

“Art block.” Patton simply said, and the other three exchanged glances. 

“I was wondering why I was feeling weird. They’re stressing him out.” Virgil told them, and they all stood up. 

Thankfully, while art block was painful for the twins, their boyfriends knew exactly what to do to make them feel better. 

~

“Roman?”

The prince glanced up when he heard Logan’s voice, halting his pacing and pasting a bright smile on his face, hiding his frustration at being interrupted. “What’s up, teach?”

“Would you mind helping me with something for a moment?”

“I, ah... I’m kinda in the middle of something, Logan...” Roman mumbled. 

“It shouldn’t take too long. I’m in need of your creative eye.”

The compliment was nice, and the fact that Logan was actually coming to him for something was a rare occurrence. “I... guess I can take a short break.” Then he looked down at Remus, wrinkling his nose in disgust at Remus’s choice of snack. “You’re disgusting!”

“Just go and help Logan! Maybe I can actually get something done once you’re gone!” Remus shot back, shoving his foot out to push Roman away from him and out of the room. Roman snarled, stalking out of their shared bedroom and past Logan, towards the logical side’s room. Logan sighed - this was further along than he’d thought. 

“So what do you need, teach? I’m working on important stuff right now so I don’t have a lot of extra time.” Roman told him as they entered Logan’s room, and he nodded sympathetically. 

“Of course, I know you’re very busy and I appreciate your help. I was going to undergo the task of clearing out Thomas’s closet and rearranging everything, but I wanted to get your assistance to do so.”

Roman narrowed his eyes. “You can’t do this by yourself?”

Logan shrugged. “I certainly could. In fact, I can think of multiple schemes I could use to organize his closet and drawers. But I do not have the same sense of organization that you do, and you’re the main side who helps Thomas dress himself in the morning.”

The prince groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Can’t this wait, teach? Is it that important that you do this _now_ , rather than, say, tomorrow?”

“Thomas has been procrastinating this for three months, two weeks and four days. I can certainly do it by myself if you want me to. But if I do, you’re not allowed to complain at how I do it.”

Roman pouted, knowing that if he left Logan to do it himself, he’d organize it in a way that would only make sense to him. With a heavy sigh, he agreed to help him, silently promising himself to move fast so he could get back to brainstorming for Thomas. 

He loved his nerd, but sometimes he had the worst timing in the world. 

~

Remus didn’t end up spending much time by himself. It was only a couple minutes after Logan had called Roman away that he heard Patton shout his name from downstairs.

“Remus? Could you come help me?”

The duke was annoyed at being interrupted, but he wasn’t mean enough to leave Patton hanging. He got up and ran to the top of the stairs, calling down to him. “What is it?”

“I need help, and nobody else is around. Come here for a moment?”

Remus huffed, taking the stairs two at a time and jumping the last four to land hard on the floor, shuffling into the kitchen where Patton had made a mess of the counter. There was flour everywhere, including on his own forehead. 

“What are you doing?” Remus asked. Patton rarely made this much of a mess when he was baking. Patton laughed, using his arm to push up his glasses sloppily. 

“I’m trying a new recipe, but I didn’t realize how much I had to use my hands for this dough. So would you do me a _huge_ favor and read me the next step from the recipe?” Patton pointed to the cookbook, which had a sizable amount of flour on it as well. 

“Is this some kinda weird foreplay thing? You don’t need me to read a recipe, you can do it yourself. Pat, I’m busy! ” Remus told him, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter. Patton pouted, and he stopped kneading the dough to look at Remus with sad eyes.

“Are you saying you don’t want to help me? If you do, you’ll get the first taste!” He sung, tapping Remus’s nose with his dough covered hands, and Remus sighed. Nobody could fight against Patton’s puppy dog eyes. 

“I... I guess I can help for a while.”

Patton beamed, leaning in and pecking Remus on the cheek. “Thank you, my twisted love! I’ll make a big cookie just for you!”

Remus couldn’t help but return his smile, grabbing the recipe and skimming through it. It was a little more complicated than just an average sugar cookie recipe, but Patton was an expert baker. This was not enough to trip him up, not to mention the floury mess he’d made in the kitchen. 

“I know what’re you’re doing, Patton--”

He was interrupted by the oven timer going off, making him jump, and Patton looked over his shoulder, then down at his hands. 

“Can you grab that? I thought I’d be done with this before the cake was done baking!”

“Seriously? Cookies aren’t enough?”

Patton shrugged. “What can I say, the sweet tooth is strong today!”

“And you say _my_ diet is bad...” Remus mumbled teasingly under his breath. Patton bumped him with his hip in response as he moved over to the oven to grab the cake. 

Remus continued to help Patton with the baking as he rolled out the cookies and set them on baking sheets. Every time he tried to bring up the reason for why Patton was doing this now, and why he’d called Remus away from his work, Patton would change the topic. By the time the cookies were in the oven, the cake had cooled enough to be iced and Patton gave Remus his choice of the sprinkles. The sheer amount of choices in front of him made him pause. 

“I didn’t know you had a sprinkle fetish, Patton!” Remus teased, and Patton just shook his head playfully. 

“I need enough for every occasion!” Patton told him, piping icing flowers onto the cake. Remus picked through his selection, pulling out a container of dark green sprinkles, as well as one with little black bats in it. 

“Aww, cute! Good thing I went with green flowers, I think these go great together!” Patton cooed, and Remus blushed a little. He didn’t get praise from Patton too often - his ideas tended to be too extreme for him. It was still a little hard to believe that the precious puffball liked him enough to include him in their poly relationship. 

On an impulse, Remus reached out and cupped Patton’s cheek, making him look up curiously. 

“I love you...” Remus mumbled, and Patton leaned into his touch gently. 

“Aww, I love you too. I’m so glad I got to spend some time with you tonight.”

“Me too... but I really should--”

“Mmm, smells good down here.” Virgil’s voice came from the stairs as he came down into the kitchen, poking his head out to get a look at the cake. 

“Virgil!” Patton smiled at the anxious side, and Virgil’s mouth quirked slightly. 

“Looks good, Pat. Hey, do you need Remus anymore?”

Remus glanced between both of them as Patton shook his head. “Nope! He’s all yours!”

Virgil grinned, hooking his arm around Remus’s casually. “Perfect. Hey, you wanna go running with me?”

Remus paused, glancing over at the stairs, knowing he really should go back to his room and work on video ideas. Sure, they hadn’t actually had one good idea since they started their session in the early morning, and he’d pretty much just been fighting with Roman for that last hour or so before Patton called him down. But still! He was Creativity, or part of it at least, and if he couldn’t do his job, then why would Thomas even keep him around?!

A nudge to his ribs broke him out of it, and Virgil was looking at him expectedly.

“I...”

“How ‘bout a bet? I’m pretty tired today, so if you beat me this time, I’ll owe you a favor, for anything you want from me.”

Remus wiggled his eyebrows and licked his lips. “Anything?”

Instead of being embarrassed and pushing him away like he normally would, Virgil just nodded. “Anything.”

The duke took another moment to think, and then he smirked widely. “You’re gonna regret this!”

“Hm. We’ll see.”

Patton waved them off as they ascended the stairs, promising the biggest slice of cake to whoever won their contest. 

~

Virgil didn’t often come to the Imagination. It was too bright for him, and there was an energy in the air that usually just made him anxious. But there was one part that he liked, and that was because it had been created specifically for him, back when he was still considered a dark side. 

Remus had carved out a portion of his dark, creepy forest and transformed it into a running course for the two of them. The trees weren’t as twisted, the wildlife more tame, and the path was uneven but mostly clear of tripping hazards. Virgil wasn’t the biggest fan of exercise, but sometimes he just needed to run and run like there was no tomorrow, and this course was perfect for running and jumping. 

Remus loved when Virgil brought him to this place. He often came on his own to run, to expel some of his own excess energy when there were too many thoughts buzzing around in his head, but running with Virgil was a different experience altogether. 

“Ready?” Virgil asked, taking off his sweatshirt and tying it around his waist. Remus didn’t try and hide how he was oogling him. He didn’t show it off too often, but god Virgil was hot. 

“So ready! I can’t wait to make you my bitch for a day!”

“If you can run as fast as you can jump to conclusions, then maybe you’ve got a chance.” Virgil teased, stretching his arms behind his back. If Remus didn’t know any better, he’d say that Virgil was intentionally trying to rile him up. 

They both took off running, and Remus was immediately reminded just how fast Virgil really was. Almost instantly he was lagging behind, practically eating the dust his boyfriend was kicking up. Even so, he knew Virgil was going easy on him, because he wasn’t gaining ground, but he wasn’t losing any either. 

The deal Virgil had offered started to matter less and less as they got into a rhythm. The forest around them offered a challenge as they ran, vaulting over tree roots and dodging hanging branches while the path itself went up and down the hills. His lungs and legs started to burn, but there was also joy bubbling in his chest and he let out an excited laugh as he jumped over a fallen log in the path. Virgil glanced back at him with a small smile on his face as he whooped in delight. 

The wind rushing past his ears drowned everything else out - he forgot about his argument with Roman, he forgot about his frustration at his inability to come up with ideas, and he forgot about his insecurities about his role. He couldn’t care about what Thomas would think of him when he felt so free!

Remus didn’t even care when he reached the end of the course and Virgil was already waiting for him. Instead, he kept his running momentum and tackled his boyfriend to the ground, cradling his head as he mashed their lips together messily. Virgil didn’t fight it, instead humming with amusement as he returned the kiss, running his fingers through Remus’s wind mussed hair. 

“Love you, emo...” Remus mumbled, pressing their foreheads together. 

“Love you too. So, are we gonna stay in the dirt, or are we gonna get up and get some dinner?”

Remus groaned, laying down completely onto Virgil’s chest and nuzzling him. “I’m good with dirt!”

“I know you are, but I’m hungry. C’mon, get off me.”

It took several more attempts and a lot of cajoling to get Remus to move, now that he was tired from the run, but they did eventually get up off the forest floor and head back to the common room. 

The other four were already there. Logan and Patton were in the kitchen preparing something for dinner - it smelled like chinese food to Remus - while Roman was sitting on the sectional with Ernest, waving his hands excitedly. They were deep in conversation about something, although Roman was doing most of the talking. 

Virgil pecked him on the check before ducking into the kitchen to help the other two with dinner, leaving Remus to head into the living room and fall onto the sectional, exhausted. 

“Did you have a good run, Remus?” Ernest asked, looking over at him. Remus nodded, his eyelids threatening to close. 

“Mhm... Virgil’s so hot without his sweatshirt on... why don’t we have him take it off more?”

“For the same reason we don’t have this sexy snake take off his cape - cause we love them the way they are!” Roman told him like it was obvious. Remus rolled his eyes. 

“We both know you’re hot for him when he wears his suit, don’t pretend you’re better than me!”

“If you want me in a suit, all you have to do is ask, you know~” Ernest sung, then their conversation was cut short as the other three came in with bowls of chicken fried rice for everyone, as well as glasses of water. 

Remus shoveled down his bowl in minutes, and then a second bowl not long after. Even though he could and would eat almost anything, he had to admit that Patton’s cooking was better than a stick of deodorant. 

Just barely, but still. 

After they ate, they all rearranged themselves on the sectional to settle in for a movie. Remus cuddled up against Ernest, holding hands with Logan who was on his other side. Roman laid down on Virgil’s chest, with Patton next to him playing with his hair. 

Neither of the twins knew what movie they had actually decided on, because they were both out cold within minutes of laying down, exhausted from the day. Unbeknownst to them, their boyfriends exchanged relieved sighs once they knew they were asleep. 

“They’re so much sometimes...” Virgil mumbled, pressing lazy kisses to Roman’s head. Logan hummed, rubbing circles on Remus’s hand with his thumb. 

“It took hours to rearrange Thomas’s closet, and he was complaining the whole way.”

“Remus kept trying to change the topic on me!” Patton added.

“I had no idea Roman had so many feelings about Beauty and the Beast. He was ranting for a full two hours on every little detail in the movie.” Ernest snickered. 

“I nearly owed a favor to Remus... remind me not to make that bet when he’s at a hundred percent.” Virgil mumbled, smiling as Roman snuggled closer to him in his sleep. 

“Do you think this was enough to break their art block?” Patton wondered aloud, and the other three shrugged. 

“I suppose we’ll find out tomorrow.”

~

The twins woke up early the next morning, feeling more refreshed than they had in months. They exchanged a silent glance after they detangled themselves from the pile of limbs on the couch, staring at their boyfriends with love in their eyes. 

“They’re so tricky!” Roman exclaimed once they went to their room, but there was no anger in his voice. “I hardly realized they’d distracted us from our work!”

“I knew from the start!” Remus told him, and Roman raised an eyebrow expectantly. Remus crumbled a bit. “Well, I _did..._ but after my run with Virgil, I kinda forgot too...”

Roman sighed, plopping down on the floor and staring dreamily into the middle distance. “We’re so lucky... we’ve got the best boyfriends in the world.”

“We do... after we’re done with these video ideas, we should think up a way to thank them!”

“A giant date... it’ll be perfect!”


End file.
